Javier Pando

Javier Pando Lopez (1791-) was a Chilean Army militia captain during the Chilean War of Independence. Pando, born to a middle-class family in Santiago, raised his own company of troops in 1814 and fought in numerous battles against the Spanish Royalists in Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia, winning several small battles against Royalist caravans and towns despite a few losses in major battles against Royalist armies.

Biography
Javier Pando was born in Santiago, Chile in 1791 to a middle-class family of merchants, and he went to university before graduating amidst the Chilean War of Independence. Pando decided to join the patriotic cause during the war against the Spanish royalists, and, upon returning to Santiago on 1 August 1814, he killed the robber Juan Camarillo Zúñiga and was then greeted by the merchant Adelmar Díaz Escalante, who asked him to come to his home so that they could speak privately. Diaz informed Pando that his brother had been taken hostage by bandits, and he enlisted Pando's help with recruiting five men to help him rescue his brother. Pando rode through the countryside and rallied volunteeres to his cause, and he then set out to interrogate local bandits as to the bandit hideout's location. He hired the Biobio veteran Leontino Raya Irizarry and three of his men from the Santiago tavern, hoping to obtain their assistance with his quest. While in Santiago, he also met General Bernardo O'Higgins, who hired him to kill the wanted murderer Brabas de Veluca in Linares. Along the way, he killed the mountain bandit leader Ronaldo Salcedo Cintrón and his band of criminals. He later stopped in Rancagua and met General Jose Miguel Carrera, who hired him to deliver a message to Sgt. Major Juan de Dios Vial Santelices at Fort San Fernando; Pando succeeded in this task.